1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to animal and poultry husbandry and, in particular, to the provision of a feed supplement which can be readily mixed into animal and poultry feeds to effectively inhibit or prevent harmful microbial activity, fungi and mold growth in the feed. The invention also embraces methods for preparing the feed supplement and to feeds containing same.
2. Description of Prior Art
Due to steady changes in the ecology resulting from introduction of more intensive methods of farming, and increasing use of chemicals which alter the microbial populations of soils, plants, etc., the growth of toxin producing and infectious molds in both human foods and animal feedstuffs has during recent years become a matter of increasing concern for both animal and human welfare. Considerable research has been devoted to the development of methods for inhibiting mold growths in poultry and animal feeds. Heating of freshly ground feeds, a result of stimulation of mold growth as moisture is released during grinding and processing, is now a widely occurring problem. Mold growths are activated directly in proportion to the moisture content of the feedstuffs., i.e., the greater the moisture content, the greater the hazard of mold growths, and the production of growth inhibiting toxins.
Methylrosaniline chloride (Gentian Violet or Crystal Violet) is known to be an effective mold and fungi inhibitor. Hoffman and Scott, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,946,722 and 3,231,466 discloses the incorporation of this substance into animal and poultry formulations with the objective of inhibiting the growth of molds and specific bacteria in the contents of the guts of animals and birds. In its solid form, however, methylrosaniline chloride cannot be uniformly dispersed in feedstuffs. It is electrostatic and therefore the particles tend to cling together. This problem has been solved by dissolving methylrosaniline chloride in a volatile organic solvent, dispersing the solution in a premix and incorporating the premix in the animal or poultry ration.